Once Homeless Hairdresser Now Gives Makeovers To The Homeless

Vanessa Howard knows what it’s like to go through hard times, hit rock bottom and have nothing. That’s why she is giving back to girls and women who are facing the same struggles she did.

When Howard was just a teen, she was the victim of domestic abuse, had three children of her own, and just $1.75 to her name, according to CBS News. The youth eventually got the courage to leave her “drug-infested” household in Tampa Florida, to see if she could make it on her own.

During that time, Howard admits she was — at one point — suicidal. A victim of domestic violence, she had first gotten pregnant as a teen and left her “drug infested” childhood home, not sure where to go next.

“I cried out one day,” Howard told CBS News. “I was tired of being homeless, tired of being alone and prayed for help.”

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Howard eventually met with a landlord who let her rent an apartment because he believed it was destiny that he was supposed to help the unfortunate young mother.

“He was like, ‘I don’t know you, but I feel like you should have this place,'” Howard described. “It was from there that I found hope and restoration. I just wanted to pay it forward.”

She then started working at local beauty salons to be able to support her three daughters.

Decades later, Howard saved up enough money and was finally able to open her own business, and named it the Giving Hands Hair Salon.

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As a means of uplifting other girls living in poverty around Tampa, Howard, now 62-years-old, provides free services one day a month. With her now five daughters by her side and a handful of volunteers, Howard gives out…

… free trims, facials and manicures. So far, she’s helped 275 women and children. Almost 300 women and girls from transitional housing and homeless shelters have benefited from Howard’s free styling.

“I know the struggle. That’s why I give so hard,” Howard said. “I’m looking to help restore women. I’m looking to help restore children, because, again, that pain is a part of my purpose.”

“I believe everything we go through we go through for purpose. I truly believe that nothing happens by coincidence,” Howard told CBS News. “I would encourage other broken women, business owners — all of us have a story and I believe that we should use what we’ve been through to help others.”